EducationEnglish.Phrasal verbsCOMMUNICATION · A2–B1

English lessons and practice games are intended for people aged 13 and over.

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← Phrasal verbs

Lesson 07 / At home

Clean the house.

5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.

Arrange furniture, clean and take care of living space.

After this lesson, you can

  • Use this lesson’s expressions to talk about the situation introduced above.
  • Distinguish “tidy up” and “clean up” in context.
  • Use “throw away” in a sentence connected to your own situation.
Practice and check your answers →

Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →

A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.

Phrase 1 / 5Understand context
An arranged the books lying haphazardly on the shelf.
An arranged the books lying haphazardly on the shelf.

tidy up

Let us tidy up the living room before our guests arrive.

Read the example again

Let us tidy up the living room before our guests arrive.

My desk is messy. I need to tidy it up.

Read the example again

My desk is messy. I need to tidy it up.

View meaning & usage

Arrange neatly

tidy uptidy up somethingtidy it up

Emphasize making things neat, not necessarily cleaning.

Cambridge Dictionary · tidy up

Haven't studied yet
An used a towel to wipe up the juice she had just spilled on the table.
An used a towel to wipe up the juice she had just spilled on the table.

clean up

I spilled some juice. I will clean it up.

Read the example again

I spilled some juice. I will clean it up.

We cleaned up the kitchen after the party.

Read the example again

We cleaned up the kitchen after the party.

View meaning & usage

Clean up dirt/clutter

clean upclean up somethingclean it up

Emphasis on treating stains or messes. The pronoun comes between the verb and “up”.

Cambridge Dictionary · clean up

Haven't studied yet
An put a crumpled piece of paper in the trash.
An put a crumpled piece of paper in the trash.

throw away

Do not throw away that box. We can use it again.

Read the example again

Do not throw away that box. We can use it again.

This food smells bad. Throw it away.

Read the example again

This food smells bad. Throw it away.

View meaning & usage

Get rid of an unwanted item as rubbish

throw away somethingthrow something awaythrow it away

“Throw away” means discard an unwanted item; “put away” means return it to its proper place for storage.

Cambridge Dictionary · throw away

Haven't studied yet
An carried a sealed garbage bag through the door and out.
An carried a sealed garbage bag through the door and out.

take out

Can you take out the rubbish before dinner?

Read the example again

Can you take out the rubbish before dinner?

Take the empty bottles out of the cupboard.

Read the example again

Take the empty bottles out of the cupboard.

View meaning & usage

Bring / take out

take out somethingtake something outtake it out of a place

The meaning in the lesson is to take or bring something out of the place where it is contained.

Haven't studied yet
An pressed the switch; the desk lamp turned on.
An pressed the switch; the desk lamp turned on.

turn on

It is dark. Please turn on the lamp.

Read the example again

It is dark. Please turn on the lamp.

The fan is off. Can you turn it on?

Read the example again

The fan is off. Can you turn it on?

View meaning & usage

Turn on the device/light

turn on somethingturn something onturn it on

Antonym of “turn off”. With pronouns: “turn it on”.

Haven't studied yet

The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 131, 22, 131, 129, 134. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.

OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH

Match phrases to pictures

Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.

Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.

A conversation in context

Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.

  1. Mai

    Let us tidy up before our guests arrive.

    Read the example again

    Let us tidy up before our guests arrive.

  2. Alex

    I will put the books on the shelf. Can you clean up the spilled juice?

    Read the example again

    I will put the books on the shelf. Can you clean up the spilled juice?

  3. Mai

    Yes. Keep the bottles we can reuse; do not throw them away.

    Read the example again

    Yes. Keep the bottles we can reuse; do not throw them away.

Compare the uses

tidy up / clean up

“Tidy up” focuses on putting things in order; “clean up” focuses on removing dirt or dealing with a mess. An orderly room may still need cleaning.

Practice and check your answers

Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.

The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.

A situation to apply what you have learned

After a craft session, chairs are scattered and glue covers one table. Useful paper remains on the floor.

  1. Which job concerns arranging the chairs?

    Show the answer and explanation

    Tidy up the chairs.

    The scattered chairs need arranging: “tidy up”; removing glue is the cleaning task.

  2. Correct: Do not throw away it; we can reuse it.

    Show the answer and explanation

    Do not throw it away; we can reuse it.

    “It” refers to reusable paper, so use “throw it away”; “do not” tells the reader to keep it.

  3. Give two different instructions for the room.

    Show the answer and explanation

    Tidy up the chairs and clean up the glue on the table.

    “Tidy up” arranges the chairs, while “clean up” removes the glue: two instructions for different kinds of mess.

The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.

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